how to get rid of mice naturally

No matter how clean your place is, when it comes to mice, these little creatures will always find their way to break in, even just out of curiosity.

They might look small and harmless, but actually, mice can do much bigger damage than you ever thought they could.

Now, there are dozens of way to eliminate mice infestation, and most of them are traps and chemicals. If you have kids, toddlers, or even curious baby, these methods can do more harm than good. Even pets will be endangered.

So, there are certain natural ways of dealing with mice. These methods are harmless to pets and children (most of them), so read carefully and follow the procedure. Be sure that some of these methods can help you get rid of mice naturally!

Contents

  • 1 12 Tips and tricks to get rid of mice naturally
    • 1.1 1. Peppermint oil is number 1
    • 1.2 2. Instant potatoes
    • 1.3 3. Hole patching
    • 1.4 4. Proper food storage
    • 1.5 5. Used cat litter
    • 1.6 6. Natural predators
    • 1.7 7. Steel wool
    • 1.8 8. Humane traps
    • 1.9 9. Onions
    • 1.10 10. Plaster of Paris in combination with Cocoa Powder
    • 1.11 11. Use electric pet doors
    • 1.12 12. Professional tip
  • 2 Final Thoughts

12 Tips and tricks to get rid of mice naturally

1. Peppermint oil is number 1

It's well known that mice can't stand the smell of peppermint. Since mice have an abnormally strong sense of smell, they find it pretty difficult to be anywhere near strong smells.  Even though this fresh scent might smell excellent to you, it's destroying mice's neuro system, sending them far away from your home.

So, the key to using peppermint is to place some on cotton balls and then spread them across your home. Preferably, you should put these balls on your home's entry points to prevent mice from coming, but you can use them even along the exterior of your home and keep them even further.

In most of the cases, people use mint oil, but you can use toothpaste as well, or mint leaves. However, its scent might fade out throughout time, and you would want to replace it with a fresher one.

2. Instant potatoes

Who knew that there is such a frugal way of dealing with mice. Yes, instant mashed potatoes can really work. All you need to do is sprinkle a bit of it in areas where mice are frequent and you are done.

True, it's not the most humane way of dealing with mice infestations, but desperate times require desperate measures. Namely, when mice eat instant mashed potatoes, the flakes expand in their stomachs and before they even know- they are dead.

Now, the downside of these is that you can harm even bigger animals, so using the method with a pet in the house isn't the recommended thing to do. At least ensure that flakes stay out of pet's reach.

3. Hole patching

Did you know that ¼ of an inch is enough for mice to sneak through? Yes, the most common way of mice getting into your home is through small crevices.

Sealing the holes might be the cheapest and least painful solution. Now, when sealing, you must think about sealing interior parts of your home. Nope, they can chew their way through pretty easily, as soon as they get into your walls from the outside.

Therefore, you need to seal everything- from interior holes to those in exterior walls. It sounds easy, but finding holes as small as ¼ of an inch can be a true pain in the neck! In that case, here are some tips that might help to find the troublesome hole:

  • If mice already infested your house, you might be able to find such holes easily, as they leave behind greasy stains around entry points.
  • Also, they leave a recognizable odor behind. We are not telling you to sniff every inch of your home, but to activate your sense of smell and focus on the smell. If you can feel it that means the hole is near.
  • In most of the cases, you can find feces near any entryway.

When you locate the possible entry points, be sure to mark them, clean a bit, and caulk them up!

If you are dealing with a small hole, green kitchen pad or a copper scouring pad can do the job. However, if the problem (hole) is a bigger one, you will need to repair it completely.

4. Proper food storage

I mean, mice are either looking for a shelter from cold weather, or for your food. Even if they can find shelter, what would they do without the food? That's why it's highly important to seal your food and properly store it away.

Mice will most likely gnaw away anything to get into your house and get to your food. Make sure to seal your food, or anything eatable (even the trash cans) out of their reach.

5. Used cat litter

Mice do get scared by cats, who knew? So, in that matter, they are frightened when they sense some predator's smell as well.

If a mouse finds out that there's a cat in the house, it won't be long before it quickly runs away. Therefore, using cat litter can help a lot to deal with a mice problem. Placing used cat litter tubs near the entry points will surely scare them away for good.

6. Natural predators

The logic behind is the same as with the last one- use the predator to deal with your mice problems. The easiest solution would be to get some cat. In most of the cases, you will deal with the problem within days.

Now, if you manage to find so lazy cat as I did once, mice will anyway walk freely and high-five your cat in the way. But this is 5% of the cases.

Let's sum up other 95%. You will deal with mice problem, and then what? What happens with the cat? Getting it just to deal with one problem (without really wanting to have a cat) makes a big commitment.

So, if you are not into some big commitments, you can use some other predators that require much less of a commitment. Try with attracting barn owls. They are a 2nd natural predator of mice. 1-2 owls can kill and eat up to 15 mice over just one night.

In order to attract barn owls, you will need to do something. The easiest way is to make or buy a nest box. These boxes aren't expensive at all. The hardest part is mounting them, as they need to be at least 10-15 feet lifted from the ground.

There seems to be a problem when you don't have a tree where this nest can be mounted. In that case scenario, try to mount it on a pole or an old shed.

Once you hear that magical "hooooo" sound in your yard, you will be sure that mice will be running for the hills as soon as possible.

7. Steel wool

We have already mentioned the sealing method, and how it can be effective against mice. If green kitchen pads or copper scouring pads aren't enough to stop mice from chewing their way through, steel wool is!

They can chew almost everything, but steel is their weakness. Not only that they can't chew through it, but in a certain way, a wire irritates their teeth.

So, the move here would be to stick steel wool into the crevice. In order to keep it in place, you might need some silicone.

8. Humane traps

If you don't want to kill mice, yet don't want them anywhere near your bed, there is a simple solution and it's called humane traps. These traps are quite popular nowadays, as you can liberate mouse later to the fields without hurting it.

The trap will let mice in, but they won't be able to get out. Once you catch one, make sure to release it far away from your home. I would recommend at least 1 mile (if not even more). They are stubborn creatures and always find their way back.

9. Onions

Onions. Even I hate onions! They seem to be handy, after all, as onion smell is another thing that a mouse can't handle. However, this method might be trickier than you think.

Onions rot, and after a while, you will regret planting such "trap". After the first day, mice will run, after several, you will run. That's how it goes.

The second thing that might be problematic is that onions are toxic to some animals. Pets like dogs and cats can get hurt if interact with onions.

So, you will need to change the onions once in a few days, and secondly- you will need to keep it far from the reach of your pet (if you have one).

Onions are pretty effective, but as said, make sure that its smell is strong all the time. You should probably even add a new of every 2 days, just to keep the level of smell constant.

10. Plaster of Paris in combination with Cocoa Powder

For those that into DIY projects, this method will be the most interesting one. The recipe is quite simple:

Take plaster of Paris and mix it up with cocoa powder. Or if you have some extra- chocolate milk powder.

Put your magical mixture in areas that mice are frequently visiting. The only thing that you need to make sure of is that the mixture is dry.

Mice will be driven by the scent of cocoa or chocolate and eat it. What they don't know is it would be their end.

11. Use electric pet doors

Most of the homeowners have some pet. Some of them use pet doors in order not to limit their pet's space and movements. These doors are often used by mice to sneak into the house.

As a homeowner that has pet doors, you might consider getting electronic pet doors. These doors are not only insulated but will tightly seal after closing. They open automatically in response to an electronic chip on your pet's collar.

12. Professional tip

In relation to the predator method, here's another one: visit some reptile center, a zoo, or some pet store (or even a friend that has one) and ask for some dried snake feces. Place this anywhere you assume that mice can enter the house, and it will surely keep them away.

Also, make sure to keep it away from the children's or pet's reach. You know, this can be used in attics or basements, as you can easily control who enters such rooms (and you will keep everyone safe).

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are some pretty easy and natural ways of dealing with mice infestation. You don't necessarily need to kill them in order to get rid of the infestation. Some ways are more human and some of them less.

However, these are proven tricks of dealing with one of the most annoying uninvited guests in your home.

Hopefully, it helped you in the battle of staying alone in your home.